Secret, Secret
by Kalsypher
Summary: Passive aggressive Yoko has had a rough life. With a mother for an escort and a father that suddenly has nothing to do with her, her focus becomes revenge through the slightest means. Now that her mother is getting married, her passive aggressive nature starts to show more and more. It was put to a stop when he came. He ended her life.
1. Chapter 1

"Married?! What do you mean you're getting married?!" Yoko yelled at the violet haired woman sitting across the table from her. "You didn't even say you were dating again!"

The woman she had the luxury of calling mother twirled a piece of hair around her finger, looking at the freshly trimmed ends as if searching for a missed piece. Her perfectly lined blue eyes moved to her perverse daughter. "Your father got married. I can't afford you on my own."

"Well, if you got a job instead of being an escort, maybe you could!" Yoko fired back, easily stepping out of the way of a flying half filled wine glass as she picked up her messenger bag. She glared at the broken glass and staining floor before turning her attention to the whore. "How long have you known him?!"

"He's a frequent customer and has been for years. His wife was a bit much for him, so he left her and their sorry kid." Her mom explained like she was describing the weather.

It made Yoko's blood boil, and her mother knew that. Yoko stormed to the door, her hand grasping the doorknob so tight her knuckles were instantly pale. She was shaking so hard she could barely breathe. Her mother had a final nail in their proverbial coffin of a conversation just as Yoko opened the door. "Be ready to pack your things. We'll be movin-"

Yoko slammed the door behind her, shoving her hands into her hoody pockets and storming down the hallway of the apartment complex. The place was built like a mansion, beautiful tanned walls with a luxurious red and gold carpet. Delicately crafted scones lined the walls, and the doors had beautiful plaques for the numbers. If it weren't for the fact there was no room service, the place could pass off as a hotel.

Rather than using her finger, she slammed her foot into the elevator button to take her to the bottom floor. Even the elevator was fancy, the sliding doors appearing to be black doors with golden handles rather than the usual bland silver.

She stepped into the elevator, again using her foot to push the ground button. She picked at her blue painted fingernails, trying to scratch the last bit off as the elevator went down to the ground floor. With her destination in mind, she stormed out the front door, heading down toward the center of town. She had one person on her mind, and she needed to see him immediately.

How she missed it. Just stepping into the small cafe diluted her ever growing hate and malice. It wasn't much of a place to find children her age, something that was obvious with the suits that sat around at solitary tables or in purple leather booths. The olive green carpet was striped with random tan lines going in any sort of direction making no real distinguishable pattern, but ended just in front of the door where light tiles would greet all visitors after stepping through tinted glass doors. The fantastic smell of decadent pastries and grilled meats and vegetables were always a welcoming aroma. It was nice, familiar.

The blue haired boy waved from their usual booth in the corner where they met every Saturday. Nagisa Shiori, her best and practically only friend. His hair was tied back as always and his blue eyes were overflowing with happiness. Though, when she got closer, his large grin disappeared.

"Did something happen?" He asked as she sat down across from him.

"Mom's getting married," Yoko replied, her evergreen eyes glaring at him beneath short black bangs that were in desperate need of barrettes.

Nagisa's eyes widened. He knew all about her psychotic escort of a mother. "To who?!"

"She said he's a long term customer," she replied as she moved a bit allowing the waitress to place the macaroni and cheese filled bowl and tea in front of her while placing a weird tortilla wrap of some kind and water in front of Nagisa. "Trying something new?"

"I saw Karma here one time, and he was eating this. He swears it's better than the sandwich."

Yoko glared suspiciously at the wrap before taking a bite of her macaroni. She was a vegetarian for health reasons and the process of becoming vegan was a struggle. For the most part, she had gotten rid of basic dairy, like milk and yogurt, but avoiding butter and cheese was proving to be quite the struggle. Gelatin seemed to be a problem as well when it came to desserts. So far, this was the only place she had managed to find that made vegan macaroni and cheese, and it wasn't terrible.

"So, what's up with you?" She asked Nagisa. "Anything new since school got out?"

"Well, as of right now, I'm still in A Class. How about you?" He asked as he took a large, trusting bite of the wrap.

"I dropped to C," she muttered as she poked at her noodles. "There's no excuse for it, but my dad got remarried and doesn't want anything to do with me or Mom. He's paying child support, but that's it." With a heavy sigh, she took another bite of the cheesy dish, "It wouldn't have been so bad if Dad hadn't kicked me out."

"You didn't tell me he kicked you out," Nagisa said as he took a gulp of his water, his face slightly red and sweat on his forehead. "It's spicy," he explained at his friend's curious gaze.

"Yeah, I was at Mom's for the weekend, then I wake up Saturday and boxes with my stuff are at the doorstep with a letter of what was going on. There wasn't enough room in the house for me and her kids, plus the two on the way. Seven kids, Nagisa! You've been there, there's more than enough room for seven kids!"

She was shaking again which made her take a deep breath to try to calm down. "I'm sorry. It was just so sudden."

He smiled. His face was so innocent. For his situation, he was handling it well, much better than she was handling hers, and she thought hers was minuscule compared to the abuse his mother dropped.

"It's fine," Nagisa reassured her. "That's why we're here. We don't see each other anymore, and you were one of my best friends in first year."

Yoko smiled slightly, blushing at the compliment. They did make a pretty good team when it came to projects. She knew her replacement had been Karma Akabane, one of the smartest students in the school. He was a decent guy, but a dangerous one.

Her head ached from the swirl of emotions she had felt in such a short amount of time. The anger was still there, gnawing at her heart and mind. She hadn't noticed Nagisa had left until he placed a large paper cup in front of her, steam coming out of the small hole in the lid.

She smiled slightly at her friend's thoughtfulness. "You didn't have to get me hot chocolate."

"You're upset," he replied, giving a half hearted smile. "And before you say anything, I think this is worse than my own. Mom has her days, your mom is crazier than the last."

After paying, the two went on a walk through the town, catching up on the week's events. With it being summer, there wasn't much to catch up on other than the occasional drama that came from one family. Sometimes one of them would have an interesting story about something they had read on the internet or saw on the street. The important part was the company. Both were suffering, and they knew the other needed the support only someone facing pain could offer.

As their reunion came to an end, Yoko felt much better than she had when she left her home, but she could feel the darkness that was choking her heart start to return as she watched Nagisa walk away. She sighed as she headed home, wondering what terrible surprise waited for her.

And the surprise was, indeed, terrible.

The apartment was covered in rose petals and champagne glasses, some tipped over, some half full. Candles flooded the room with their romantic glow, and an all too familiar sound echoed through the apartment making her skin crawl. She was curious as to who the man was her mother was so willing to marry, but not enough to sneak a peek. No, that could wait another forty years or so.

Silently closing the door behind her, Yoko managed to get in without a sound, locking the door and turning on music to drown out the life-scarring cries just on the other side of the apartment. Disgusting.

There was a harsh blow to her mind as she stared at the wine glasses on her cleared off night stand and crumpled violet bed sheets. Her room was supposed to be her sanctuary, her peace, the place she would be accepted no matter what. Yet, it had been invaded, disgraced, damned. It wasn't the first time her mother had done something like this, but she would have to sterilize the room, top to bottom. Her mother had started a war.

Without a care in the world, Yoko pulled her door open as hard as she could causing a dent in the tanned wall. For good measure, she scratched her fingers down the tan walls as she marched down the hallway until she got to the living room. She made as much noise as possible, blowing out all the candles and turning on all the lights. Just to keep things interesting, she turned off the air conditioner and turned on the heat so they could boil in their sex.

She had never been more grateful for the dishwasher to be broken or for whoever cooked to have made seven courses of something, some sticking to the pan so touch, it took the hard scrubbing of steel wool to get it off.

Not ten minutes later did her mother come storming out of her bedroom, violet hair in a curled up mess, her makeup all over her face, wearing a bed sheet like a toga.

"What are you doing?!"

"Cleaning up," Yoko replied innocently. "My room is a little dirty, and I needed to wash the glasses you left in there. The rest of the cook ware was getting in my way and since we don't have a functioning dishwasher, you'll just have to deal with the noise, though I'm surprised you heard it."

A loud pop was covered by a bass drop from her music, knocking Yoko back a bit, but only making her smirk. "Now, now, mother dear, we wouldn't want my new father to think so low of you. We wouldn't want him to leave because he thinks you're crazy, too."

Her mother hesitated, though her anger never faltered. If anything, it got worse. Yoko could only laugh at the predicament. Before she went back to washing dishes, her phone vibrated. Her immense joy immediately disappeared when she read the text from Nagisa.

"As much as I would love to humiliate you further, I'm afraid I must go. Stop going in my room and I'll stop ruining your sex." She promised with a wink.

Without another word, she grabbed her other bag, one that held lock picks and other shady things. She ran as fast as she could to the address Nagisa had sent to her and found him waiting, worry clear across his face. He also looked slightly depressed, his eyes red from tears and cheeks burning from some sort of abuse.

"It's been a while since she's kicked me out," Nagisa said sadly. "Karma said I could stay at his place, but he's not home to let me in. I don't know what to do."

The comforting smile his friend gave him slightly eased his troubles until his blue eyes found the red splotch on her cheek. "You too?"

Yoko knew her smirk was the incorrect response, but she couldn't stop it. "She brought a special hell on her head. You don't have sex in your kid's room. So, she has to deal with the embarrassment of explaining to the guy she was with why she slapped me in the first place. I think it was worth it."

The two debated on whether or not it was technically her room since her mother was paying the rent, or at least assuming she was. While Nagisa argued it was in fact her mother's apartment, Yoko argued the value of privacy, how it was okay for a parent to check up on their child and invade their personal space as they seem fit, it was disrespectful to in fact have sex on the child's bed.

"Here it is," Nagisa said as they came to a stop in front of a pale two-story house. "I think there's an alarm, though."

Yoko whistled a vague tune as she searched her bag and pulled out a weird remote. Nagisa snatched the gadget away from her, "You are not breaking in without the code number!"

"I'm certainly not going to stand out here and wait for him to get back," she replied, snatching the remote back.

The two argued over whether or not they should break in before Nagisa received a text from Karma telling him the alarm code. Nagisa glanced around awkwardly as he hovered over his friend, blocking possible onlookers from watching them. When the lock clicked, she silently opened the door and froze upon seeing someone standing there, smirking down at her.

The tall teen has dangerous oozing from him, but Yoko stood still, her body frozen in place and her heart thumping loudly in her chest. His orange eyes seemed to pierce her very soul, almost beckoning her to join his chaos.

"Karma?" Nagisa glared st his friend. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing," the red head shrugged with an easy smile. "I just wanted to see if you could do it. I didn't know you would get someone else involved."

"This is Yoko," Nagisa introduced.

"Right, your friend from first year," Karma commented with a smile. "You certainly dropped fast. Where are you now?"

"Karma! Don't ask her things like that!" Nagisa scolded.

"Yeah, yeah," Karma waved off as he turned away from them. "Are you coming in?"

Nagisa stepped in while Yoko gave a weak smile. "Call me if you need me." She told her blue haired friend.

"You're not staying?" Nagisa and Karma asked curiously.

Nagisa recognized the wicked smile that started to form on Yoko's lips. He sighed and smiled, "Just don't kill anyone."

The wickedness in her glowing eyes made him wonder if she was actually about to kill someone, or get close to it. "We'll see."

Nagisa half expected Karma to try to help her, but he said nothing as she walked away.

"She's crazy," Karma said as he closed the door. "I like her already."

Yoko wasted no time. As soon as she was back in the apartment, she began cleaning. It was her favorite past time. Clean and rearrange. Though they would be moving soon, that didn't mean her antics had to stop. Whoever this guy was would have to get used to it anyway. When she got upset, she made sure everyone else got messed up too.

She had no idea where her mother was, but she knew she wasn't home. As soon as she finished washing all of the dishes and wiping everything down, she moved on to changing where the dishes were supposed to go, finding new places and causing structural disorder that would happen almost immediately. The living room was treated the same, cleaned up, vacuumed, and rearranged to a less convenient and awkward positioning.

The hours it took to fulfill the small act of revenge was worth the reaction. Just as she finished rearranging her mother's bedroom, she heard the door open, shoes being taken off, then chaos unfolding as whoever had come in stumbled around the small coffee table she had placed by the door where keys could be placed and never lost.

"Yoko! Fix it now!" Her mother demanded from the doorway.

The girl stepped out of the room and leaned against the door frame, looking at the newly designed room. "I like it," Yoko commented. "Besides, we're moving anyway, aren't we? You'll be fine."

"You're a brat, you know that?!" Her mother yelled. "I have done everything I could to make you happy and keep a roof over your head! This is how you show how grateful you are?!"

"Yeah, well this brat has standards, and you're not meeting them. Mothers don't chase sugar daddies. They use the child support money they get to take care of their children. The only good you've done is use that money to get me in a decent school."

"That you're failing," she spat. "I'm sure you've noticed how they treat the lower classmen. The dumber you are, the more they'll point it out."

"Please, Mother, tell me how stupid I am when you didn't even make it to high school," Yoko smarted off, her arms crossed over her chest in a deadly glare matching her mother.

After a few minutes of silent glowering, the two parted ways, each heading to their respective rooms. Her mother knew not to press her luck with her psychotic child. With Yoko's history, she was truly lucky she had gotten away with simply rearranging the furniture. She shuddered at the thought of her daughter's previous acts of revenge. The last one had been rather passive aggressive as well, since the two were invited to the man's house, and Yoko spiked literally everything she could think of with estrogen. Cooking oils, milk, shampoo, laundry detergent. If it could possibly be absorbed by the human body, she had placed the hormone in it. She was thankful her daughter was passive aggressive rather than trying to kill everyone that annoyed her.

Yoko was smirking down at her phone as she read the texts she had gotten from Nagisa detailing his time with Karma. There was no doubt she was envious of their friendship, since she couldn't stay the night or really hang out with them like guys could. However, that would change soon enough. She wasn't going to be an only child anymore. This guy had a kid too. She couldn't help but wonder what they like. Did they go to the same school? Would she ever actually meet them?

The last child she had to deal with got a rash by no fault of her own. It was some strange allergic reaction to the body wash she used. In her opinion, the boy shouldn't have been using a girl's body wash anyway. However, the blame was placed on her and the man left, never looking back and the boy never seen again.

She supposed she could pretend to be kind to the kid, no matter what the age. If young enough, she could instill the bad habits she had and truly make their lives a living hell. So many options.


	2. Chapter 2

"What have you done?!" Yoko's mother screeched, practically tearing her hair out.

Her mother's violet hair was now blonde and brown. The woman had a tendency to follow the directions of shampoos and conditioners to give her hair the liveliness the commercials advertised. So, her conditioner had been filled with skin-friendly bleach that she had to let sit in her hair for thirty minutes, and when she rinsed that out, she put in an extra layer of something that dyed it the blotchy mess it was.

Yoko grinned wickedly, "You're getting married. Don't you want to look back on your life and know you got married with your natural hair color? You'll need to fix the color though. You look like a cheetah."

Her mother nearly dropped the towel wrapped around her as she stormed back into her bedroom. They would be moving out at the end of the week, a day after their wedding. Until then, Yoko had been given one task to do. Pack boxes and that was quickly boring her.

The Tetris master was able to fit many things into boxes then stack them neatly against the wall. When she got bored of the simple task, she started building testy archways that were very stable, but looked ready to fall at any moment. It made her mother a nervous wreck since planning a wedding wasn't stressful enough.

Carefully pushing a box toward the wall, she had finally finished the archway above the entrance door. It was by far her most accomplished piece since the door slammed and shook the wall every time it closed. What made the arch more delicious was the fact it had been built out of the kitchen dishes and lamps. Though she knew it wouldn't fall, the fact all the boxes had been labeled with the fragile things was enough to drive anyone mad.

Just as she started packing up her room, her phone rang. She smiled at her friend's name. "Hey, Nagisa."

"Karma! Give it back!" She heard Nagisa scream in the background.

"Hey, Yoko," Karma greeted, completely ignoring the pleading boy in the background. "What are you doing today?"

"Just packing," she replied as she started folding clothes and placing them in boxes. "I don't think I'm allowed to leave until it's all finished."

"We can help," Karma volunteered.

"Are you insane?!" Nagisa yelled.

As much as she hated to admit it, she did need help with the heavier things, and Karma looked more capable of doing the heavy lifting than Nagisa, but she could use the company. "As long as you do EXACTLY as I say, you can help."

There was a wicked laugh followed by a small tussle before Nagisa finally got his phone, "Yoko, please don't cause any trouble."

"Calm down, Nagisa," she smiled as she examined a picture of the two of them together, holding a blue ribbon for winning first place in a science fair project they did together. "There are some bigger things that I can't move, so I need the help."

He groaned some, "Fine."

"I'll buy you sushi," she promised, knowing the bribe would work.

"We'll be there in a few minutes."

She laughed a bit as she pulled out some more clothes and placed them in boxes.

"Yoko, have you lost your mind?!"

Genuinely curious as to what she did that got her in trouble, she peeked out of her room and headed down the hall. Her cheetah haired mother had tied the mess up best she could to cover the dye job and was wearing a gray hoody and gray sweatpants.

She walked to her mother's side and stared at the giant burn in the carpet. "Oh, I didn't do that," Yoko told her.

"Then who did?" Her mother asked curiously. As psychotic as her daughter tended to be, she would own up to her episodes when she was called out.

Yoko headed to the kitchen and pulled out the folder that kept the a copy of the apartment rental agreement, the renter's insurance, all receipts of damages done to the apartment, and the copy of the original appearance of the apartment when they moved in. "Yeah, it was here when we moved in." She pointed at the place where the damage had been listed. "I tried to get the people to replace the carpet for the first two months we were here, but they never sent anyone. It got covered up with the tree."

The woman sighed, "Alright. I'm going to see Luna so she can fix this mess you've made."

"Okay, bye Mom," Yoko headed back to her room.

The moment the front door closed, Yoko quietly slipped out of her room, double checking that her mother was gone. After waiting a few more minutes, she sprung her plan into action. As she went through her mother's closet, she made sure to pack up all the clothing that didn't have pattern. In the middle of her sorting, a knock came to the door.

She scurried to the door, almost knocking down the archway at the entrance. She smiled at the two teens standing in front of her, but it faded when she saw the ice cream in Karma's hands.

"It's vegan," he assured as he handed it to her.

"You've been busy," Nagisa noted as he walked under the large lining of archways. "Is this even safe?"

"Of course it is," Yoko smiled.

"So, where's your mom?" Karma asked. "Nagisa made her sound pretty interesting."

"She's getting her hair dyed," Yoko replied as she took a bite of the strawberry ice cream.

"What did you do?" Nagisa asked her, placing his free hand on his hip while giving her a knowing look.

"Why do you think I did anything?" Yoko exclaimed at the accusation. When his face didn't change, she smiled. "I put bleach in her conditioner and brown dye in whatever stuff she puts in her hair."

Nagisa gave her a deadpanned look. "What were you doing before we got here?"

"I'm packing my mother's room. If you want to work on my room, you can," she smiled.

"I thought you needed help with heavy lifting," Karma mused, smiling at her. "Or did you just want to see Nagisa?"

"The heavy lifting is when we start taking things apart," she told him, a nasty smile forming on her lips. "A lot of stuff has to come apart so we can move it."

"Why did I make this mistake?" Nagisa groaned. "Is there anything you don't want us to touch?"

"No, you can put everything away," she answered as she headed beck to her mother's room. "I've got my clothes divided by seasons and colors, so if you can keep them in a basic order like that, that would be great."

"What about your underwear drawer?" Karma asked.

"If you don't want to touch it, just pull the drawer out and dump it in a box. It's not like they're dirty."

Karma shrugged and headed to the room, Nagisa following.

Yoko went back to sorting through her mother's clothing. The uglier, the better. Everything plain was put away, something her mother would definitely hate. That woman lived on patterns. She also packed away her mother's thongs and textured bras.

As she taped the last box shut, she heard something fall. When she got to her room, her body went numb. Backed against the wall was Nagisa and Karma both staring in horror at the used condom in the middle of the floor. She blinked a couple of times before looking around the room. Nothing had fallen, so what was that noise?

"Are you two okay?" She asked.

"Why is that in here?!" Karma asked, disgusted at the sight.

"Mom. Why else?" Yoko replied before looking at Nagisa, "Are you okay?"

He smiled, "Yeah. We didn't mean to scare you."

Yoko left the room, Karma begging her to return to get rid of the fluid infested rubber. He was relieved when she returned, picking it up with a paper towel. "It can go in the box with the rest of them."

"You have a box?! Why?!" Karma asked.

Yoko smirked, "I was told to pack."

Nagisa sighed, "You need to figure out a better way of handling things."

The three went quiet when they heard the front door open. Without a second thought, Yoko headed to the drawer by the door, pulling out a bowie knife. Before she could step out, she heard keys drop to the table by the door.

"Rina said she was crazy, but I didn't think it was this bad," a man muttered.

Nagisa walked out of the room, surprising Yoko and Karma. The two rushed out make sure he would be okay, but immediately froze at the sight of the man standing in the middle of the living room. He was just as shocked to see them as they were to see him.

"Dad?" Nagisa asked quietly.

"Nagisa? Why are you here?" The man asked. His dark eyes moved to Yoko who had a shaking grip on the knife in her hand. "You're Yoko?"

Karma grabbed the furious girl by her arms, keeping her pressed against him while she struggled to get to the man across the room. He let her go when Nagisa got the knife from her tight clutch.

"I hope you know your life will be more miserable than you could ever imagine," Yoko said through gritted teeth and tears. "I will not tolerate the way you have treated your son. I will not forgive you."

"Yoko, it's fine," Nagisa said, trying to calm the enraged girl. "Besides, that will mean we're twins, sort of."

For a moment, her anger was broken at the thought. "Yeah, I guess we will be twins."

The moment her eyes went back to the man, her anger returned, "I haven't finished packing, and Mom isn't here. Get out."

"I was just passing a message along," he said, holding his hands up. "She said wasn't coming back for the rest of the week so she could get ready for the wedding. I guess you'll both be there, then?"

"Dad, you didn't even tell me you were getting re-married," Nagisa frowned. "You could have said something."

"Your mother wouldn't have approved, Nagisa," he replied.

"I'm not going without Nagisa," Yoko said with a smirk. "I know that hardly matters, but I'll get to start unpacking while you go out on your honeymoon."

He sighed, "You are crazy."

"I'm the worst type of crazy there is," she replied, her smile turning dark. "You never know what I'll do, or if I will even do it. You won't realize your world has been turned upside down until it's too late."

"Yeah, passive aggressive people are pretty nasty," Karma agreed. "But, let's not let that spoil a good time."

"Karma, you can't do anything to my dad!" Nagisa exclaimed.

"Take note, old man," Yoko spoke up. "Nagisa has saved you today. He's a cherished friend, and I will not bother you while he is around." She smiled, "When he's not here, who knows what will happen."

"I'm not trying to start problems," he told her.

"Well, you did," Yoko spat. "You abandoned him. I cannot forgive that."

He sighed, "Alright. I'll see you later."

The moment the door closed, Yoko snatched the knife from Karma and headed back to her mother's bedroom. She dropped the almost forgotten trash in the box she had been collecting nasty things in and started folding up bed sheets to pack away.

"Would you have killed him?"

The question caught her off guard as she looked over her shoulder to see Karma standing there, his orange eyes studying her. "I would have put in the effort. Why?"

"You scared Nagisa," Karma replied, his arms crossed over his chest. "I mean, he gets it, but for his sake, don't mess up his dad."

She smiled slightly, "I don't plan on doing anything other than knocking over some pictures or rearranging the kitchen. I've done terrible things, and what's coming his way will be like a paper cut from a feather compared to what I've done to people. I'll do just enough to keep him on his toes, and when he starts to feel safe, I'll have to mess up something." She clutched the sheets in her hand tightly, her eyes focusing on the floor. "Do you know how they met?"

"No, he's never said," Karma replied as he walked to her, placing the knife on the nightstand.

"My mother is an escort," Yoko explained as she picked up the knife and looked it over. "I don't know much about it, but I don't think that's a life you can just walk away from. She's getting married, like that's going to solve all of her problems. And, maybe it will, I don't know." Her attention moved to Karma who was absolutely fascinated with the story. "He doesn't deserve an easy life with her. Since it's Nagisa's dad, I'm going to pull the punches, but I can't promise it will last. I know I will snap one day. I just don't know what will happen, and I don't want Nagisa there for it."

"Your mom's an escort?" Karma asked. "Did she ever take you with her?"

The lack of judgment caught Yoko off guard. The question was one only Nagisa had asked before.

"Nagisa didn't tell you?" She asked, slightly surprised at the lacking detail of her life. "She got invited to a party and the man asked her to bring me along. It was a high class place with a lot of breakable things. Being the adorable five year old I was, I found one of the breakable things and thought there was apple juice inside."

"You found their liquor cabinet?" He gawked.

"No, they had it sitting out for anyone to take," she replied with a sigh. "There must not have been much inside, but I drank all of it and stumbled down a staircase, passed out at the front door. Thankfully, there was a doctor there, and when the next party came around, I did the same thing, only this time, not drinking all of it, but just stumbling around until I puked. Needless to say, I don't drink anymore. Well, the last time I got invited was a couple years ago, and I repeated the process, so now I'm definitely not allowed to go when I get invited."

Nagisa was standing in the doorway, a photo in his hands, "I thought you had thrown this away."

Yoko took the picture from him and smiled, "No, I wouldn't get rid of this."

They had won the science fair. That was when they knew they were unbeatable. Even now, as she looked at her soon to be brother, she knew that they were unbeatable. Her grades had dropped and she couldn't get them up. She hoped they would be up in time for high school, but it wasn't looking so great. She allowed too many distractions cloud her studies. She tried her best to ignore her compulsive need to mess something up, but it would distract her until she did it.

"Well, if you need any tutoring, I might be able to help," Karma said with a smile. "I'm not much of a teacher, though."

"I just get distracted," she told him. "Things like this happen, and it's something I can't control. I have to change what I can control just to know I still have a choice in the matter, but sometimes, it's for fun. It's something I can't stop, and it's starting to show. I should be fine by high school, though. I'll be used to my new life, and it won't be so annoying anymore."


	3. Chapter 3

Yoko handed Karma the last dish for him to place on the top shelf. Nagisa had helped most of the week, but decided to stay home with his mom, leaving Yoko to unpack alone. It didn't take much to convince Karma to help her unpack.

"So, how are you going to get to the plates?" He asked as he closed the cabinet.

"I can climb up there," she replied as she smiled at him. "Thanks for helping."

The delinquent gave her a devilish smile, "I do love messing with people. When you get involved, I can get away with it. So, now what? Are you just going to stay by yourself?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, I've got to buy Nagisa's birthday present..." Her sentence trailed off as she stared blankly at the red head. "I have to go to the pawn shop."

"For what?" He asked. He had learned that she had one specific nasty quirk of her mother, she never bought anything used. It embarrassed her quite a bit, but when she tried to get something used, she would freak out about germs, while her mother simply wouldn't take anything used.

"To pawn off some of Mom's jewelry," she replied as she stepped into her room and opened an antique jewelry box.

To his surprise, there was very little jewelry and it looked very old. She twisted a knob and a drawer popped open. Karma couldn't believe the amount of gold that was in that box. "How in the world do you get that?!"

"I have issues and my mother was an escort," she replied as she looked at a sapphire ring surrounded by small diamonds. "All of this are gifts from former clients. I keep watch on her things, so when she gets rid of a guy, or a guy drops her, I find the stuff he gave her and slowly take away the least valuable to the most valuable, and she never realizes it. When I get it, I get it appraised so I'll know how much I can get for it when it's time to talk price."

Karma noticed a few bands on Yoko's fingers, "So, are they from clients?"

Yoko looked at him then the rings on her hands, "Eh, technically. I stole them from the men who I found out were cheating on their wives. I met a nice man in the middle of the city who was more than happy to cut them down and size them for me."

She pulled out a small, purple velvet purse and dumped its belongings into her hand. There were at least ten bands, all sorts of metals, some with diamonds or other gems. She gave him a wicked smile, "I've seen a lot more men come back and ask for those rings, but never find them."

She lifted up a delicate silver bracelet and looked it over for a moment before putting it in her pocket. Another gold bracelet went in her pocket as well, and she shoved the drawer back in, closing the jewelry box.

"You're tricky," Karma smiled. "So, what are you getting Nagisa for his birthday?"

"Nintendo DS. Of course, what's a game system without a game? I just don't know what games."

Karma was intrigued by the girl whose knowledge came from being around people. No books, no video games, no movies. She had the ability to talk to anyone and everyone. She could practically get anything she wanted, but she didn't know that. Yet, despite her social skill, she was still very alone.

He walked with her to the pawn shop, talking about different video games that Nagisa would be interested in. Her reaction to the storylines of some of the games were priceless. She held little interest in most of the games, since they were mostly action, but the puzzles kept her attention.

Karma looked around the strange store as they stepped in. He would have thought they had stepped into a witch doctor's house, not a pawn shop. Vials with herbs and other liquids lined the walls as well as small skulls from various animals and shrunken heads hanging in strange places.

"Ah, Yoko! I was wondering when you would come back!" The old lady behind the counter greeted with a toothless smile. Her green eyes moved to Karma who was looking at a vial of spider eggs. "And who is this?"

"Gran Gran, this is Karma. He's a friend from school," Yoko replied as she looked at the red head who was eying a necklace with a snake's head pendant. "Karma, this is my grandmother, Lady Bale."

"Lady Bale? That's a dumb name."

Yoko sighed as she leaned against the counter, flipping an amethyst crystal between her fingers while her grandmother chased Karma around the small shop with a cane. He continued mocking the old woman until he tripped over the cat and fell to the ground, not only getting a few beatings from the cane, but a cat scratching at his face as well.

"You should respect your elders, boy," Lady Bale spat, her beady purple eyes glaring down at him. "Where's that Nagisa boy?" She asked as she placed the end of her cane at Karma's chin, forcing him to look up at her. "At least he's nice."

"That's why I'm here, Gran Gran," Yoko said as she pulled out the bracelets from her pockets. "You remember the tea leaves Nagisa had?"

She hummed as she walked around the counter, "What about them?"

"It was an eagle!" Yoko emphasized as Karma took his place next to her, looking at the gemstone statues displayed on a small shelf. "Don't you want to know what happened?"

"According to your leaves, you're not pregnant and you're not getting married, but there was something bad that was going to happen. You cause your own misfortune."

"Yoko's mom married Nagisa's dad," Karma said with a smile. "They're related!"

Lady Bale looked at Karma then to her granddaughter. "What have you done?"

"Rearranged the house," Yoko replied. "Nothing major."

Lady Bale opened the cash register, pulling out some money and handing it to the black haired girl while her eyes went to the boy. "Let me see your hand."

As Yoko put the money away, she watched Karma slowly comply to the demand.

While the woman ran her fingers over his palm, she continued to talk to Yoko. "When did Rina get married?"

"Today. I won't see her until the end of the week." Yoko replied as she grabbed a knife made out of bone from the counter. "Karma and Nagisa helped with the move."

Karma didn't move as the old woman gently closed his hand and held it between hers. "Something is coming for you, Yoko. Keep your friends close. You will need them." Before Yoko could reply, the woman gave her a glare, "This is serious, Yoko. Don't pick fights and stay out of trouble."

Karma grinned, "Hear that? Looks like you better watch your step."

"Your luck isn't better," Lady Bale told him. "You're obviously strong enough to counteract whatever bad comes your way, but you're just as bad as she is. Just trouble and wasting space and time." She sighed, "But, you'll die soon, probably doing something stupid."

"Thanks, Gran Gran," Karma mocked as Yoko headed toward the door. "I'll come by tonight to get my garden."

Karma gasped at the fresh air. The incense had been suffocating him and getting beat up by the hag didn't help. He would have to soak his clothes and air them out until the smell was gone.

"She's pleasant," he muttered as he folded his arms behind his head. "Why is she such a hag?"

"If I had a daughter for an escort, I would probably be a witch doctor too," Yoko replied with a shrug. "She believes negativity increases luck because it makes the person feel so bad, even karma won't bother them."

Karma laughed, "it doesn't matter what mood their in, I'm going to mess with whoever I want, whenever I want."

Yoko pondered his words before realizing he was talking about himself. She gave a delayed laugh and headed into the game store. While she wandered around trying to find something for her new brother, Karma looked at other video games.

She grabbed five games that seemed interesting enough and passed the Karma approval test before picking out the DS. He had mentioned in passing a system that he would have loved to have, but the price was a bit much.

"There it is," she smiled as she pointed at it. "Can I get that one?"

"Sure thing," the guy on the other side of the counter said with a smile. "I'll tell you what, you give me the entire storyline of the theme behind this and I'll give you a discount."

Karma headed to the register when he heard the offer. She knew practically nothing about the Sonic Ninja. When he reached her side, he started to intervene, but went silent as he listened to her talk about the movie, comics, and games as if she had experienced them all first hand. He had to give her credit for remembering almost every word he had said about the topic, and even mimicking the excitement in Nagisa's voice when he spoke about the superhero.

When the pair left the store, Yoko was looking at the steampunk themed device. "It's purple with golden gears. How is this ninja related?"

"It's not," Karma replied as he took it. "That's more of the company's theme."

"I see," she muttered as she turned the box over. "I hope he likes it."

Karma grabbed her shoulder to stop her from walking as he pulled out his phone and grinned wickedly at the name. "Hey, Nagisa," he answered in a creepy voice. His orange gaze moved to her, "Yeah, she's with me...Yeah, I'll tell her."

He hung up, the wicked smile returning, "Nagisa has invited you to the movies. How cute."

"You're coming, too," she told him. "We do this every year. Movies, lunch or supper, ice cream, presents."

"Why are you swapping presents on his birthday?" Karma asked.

"It's my birthday, too," she replied. "I guess we're twins now."

The mischievous smile returned, "Oh really? How interesting."

Yoko rolled her eyes and headed on toward the movie theatre, Karma following behind. Their birthday was usually only half a day, but it seemed Nagisa had more planned this time. He would never pick an afternoon movie on a Saturday.

As they stood at a cross walk, someone ran by, snatching Yoko's purse from her shoulder, inevitably throwing her to the ground since it was across her chest. The man trying to snatch her purse almost fell to the ground as well, still tugging on her purse and pulling her partway into the road.

Karma grabbed the man, who still had a grip on Yoko and slammed him into the light pole, Yoko rolling to his feet. Just before he could land a punch, the man screamed and sank to the ground while Yoko sat there and stared at him, a well hidden needle in her hand.

"What did you do?" Karma asked as they crossed the street.

Yoko was fine, but dirty, which irked her. The backs of her arms had scrapes as well as her knees, but it wasn't anything she couldn't just walk off.

He watched her drop the capped syringe into a trash bin, still waiting for an answer. He was starting to believe he wouldn't get one, so he would ask Nagisa.

She had an odd look in her eyes, he noted. He wondered if that was the look he had when he was about to get in a fight. It was so solid, so fierce, yet, excited, evil almost. There was a struggle in those green eyes he had never really noticed, but it had become more evident under the stress. She was fighting that need to destroy something, destroy someone. She needed to ruin someone's day.

"After the movie, we can break into someone's house and change their furniture," Karma suggested.

"Maybe," she muttered.

He kept to himself, though casting a glance her way to make sure she was still there. She was so silent all of a sudden. Her eyes stayed distant, almost as though she was the walking dead. After a few minutes of silence, he looked down at her once more, her eyes starting to clear as she focused on her surroundings, "You have a portable garden?"

There was a new evil in her green eyes as she looked up at him, "A poison garden."

She explained the basics of a poison garden, what she was growing and how she was using the poisons. Her witch doctor grandmother had only encouraged the deadly hobby, helping her make basic liquid injections like she had used earlier or edible ones. She spoke briefly on how she had experimented with an airborne powder, but it gave all of her victims hives, so she didn't try that again.

Yoko nudged Karma when she saw Nagisa. The poor boy was dressed in baggy pants and a baggy shirt, but his hair had been curled. There was a group of guys standing around and talking to him.

"You should kiss him," Karma and I told each other.

"You're a girl, you kiss him," Karma grinned.

"They'll think he's a lesbian," Yoko argued. "You kiss him."

The two watched as Nagisa suffered from his mother's doings. Yoko felt bad for him. Her hair was shorter than his. She took a deep breath and let it go, "You have to do it." She gave a winning smirk to Karma, "I'm his sister, after all."

His orange eyes left hers as he looked at the predicament. "Alright."

She followed him to the group of boys who immediately went quiet when they saw Karma. Quickly wrapping Nagisa in a headlock, he started picking at the boys that were messing with him since they were hitting on a boy.

Once the boys left, Yoko pulled a brush from her purse and gently brushed out the curls, "Of all days, huh?"

He smiled, "Thanks for coming." His smile faded when he saw the scrapes on her arms, "Did something happen?"

She ignored the question, so Nagisa looked to Karma who was looking at the movie selection. Karma would have protected her, or gotten his revenge on whoever hurt her, yet his clothes were untouched. Maybe she had just fallen, but she wasn't a clumsy person.

"Did you pick out a movie?" Yoko asked as she finished brushing his hair and tying it back.

"I know you're not big on superheroes, but that one is a horror film as well," he said as he pointed at a poster.

She pulled out her phone, quickly looking up more about the movie before nodding in agreement, "That sounds good."

The two looked at Karma who had his eyes on a group of at the edge of the building.

"Please don't fight today," Nagisa pleased.

"How can I not?" The red head asked with a smile. He gave Nagisa some money for his ticket and headed over to the guys.

"So, what happened?" Nagisa asked. "Did you just fall?"

"Someone tried to take my purse, and it sent me to the ground. I got a little scratched up, but he was paralyzed, so I'm not too worried about it." She smiled at her friend, "I don't have the urge to destroy something anymore, so that's good, right?"

"That's because there's nothing here to destroy," Nagisa replied. "Uh oh."

She followed his gaze to Karma smirking wickedly as he came back, "You would never guess who that was."

Yoko wiped some blood from his cheek, checking for a cut. "Who was it?"

"Our dear friend from before!" He announced cheerfully. "You see, he was in a wheelchair, but it seems to have gone missing."

"I know he dragged me through the dirt, but you didn't have to steal his wheelchair," Yoko replied, making a mental note of the situation. The man wouldn't have been alone. There was absolutely no way he could move any part of his body, unless her solution just wasn't strong enough yet.

His sadistic gaze softened slightly, "I don't take well to others harming my friends. I can tell you know how to take care of yourself, but that doesn't mean I won't get a say in the matter."

She smiled slightly, "That means a lot, Karma."

Nagisa stood by the two mischief makers while they talked about the show times and how to get into the rated R movie Karma wanted to see. Together they decided to buy tickets for another movie, wait around then sneak into the movie they wanted to see, but they would be waiting for nearly an hour.

"Guys, we can see a different movie," Nagisa spoke up, but was quickly shut down by a glare from the two.

They had made up their minds.

"Alright, so here's what we're going to do," Karma began as he pulled Nagisa in closer. "Yoko and I are dating, and we're waiting on your girlfriend or boyfriend to show up."

"Why am I the third wheel?" Nagisa exclaimed.

"You're my brother, now," Yoko replied. "It would be weird, even if this is a fictional situation."

He groaned, "Whatever. And what do you mean, 'boyfriend'?! I'm obviously a guy!"

"Well, we've already had to convince other guys you are one, so..." Yoko trailed off with a sheepish smile and shrug.

"Yeah, sorry, man," Karma laughed.

"Ooh, does that mean you're paying for my ticket?" Yoko asked Karma.

The red head smiled, "Sure, why not. It can be my birthday gift to you."

Nagisa looked at the two of his friends. Both were beyond manipulative. Both were dangerous, if not deadly. Both got what they want when they wanted it. It was weird to be in the presence of such power.

True to their word, the trio bought tickets to another movie that started in 45 minutes and bought their snacks before taking seats in the small waiting area by the bathrooms.

Yoko was clearly uncomfortable with the place. The place smelled like stale popcorn and sticky soda. It didn't help they were next to the bathrooms that on occasion released the smell of bleach and cheap hand soap. Teens were walking around, smelling as if they had bathed in whatever perfume or cologne they had chosen for the day.

Now that she thought about it, Nagisa and Karma both seemed to be wearing it. It was even a unique smell to the two of them. Karma had this musky, sweet earthy smell like teakwood, while Nagisa had a cleaner, smoother scent, like clean ocean air or a meadow. They were scents teens would overlook, more so for men to wear, though she wasn't entirely sure if Nagisa actually picked his or not, but it did suit him.

And so they waited. It was quiet for the most part, but Karma was still bothered by how Yoko had paralyzed that man. It was so strange how Nagisa had seen him get into fights and not be phased at all, but she paralyzed someone and he's happy she's okay? Who were they?

"What did you do to that man?" Karma asked while making sure he kept his eyes on Yoko's.

So many had backed down under his gaze, yet she didn't flinch. "I poisoned him."

She had said the strange sentence like she was talking about the weather. So simple, so ordinary. Yet, she had poisoned him.

"Poisoned? With what?"

"A horse chestnut solution I created. Obviously it wasn't strong enough since he managed to get in a wheelchair. I suppose I'll be testing it once again. It paralyzed the last three teens, but maybe he was just older and that slowed it down. Who knows."

"What's a horse chestnut?" Karma asked curiously.

The smile on her lips could easily match his own as her eyes lit up. Nagisa simply sighed as he grabbed his drink and hers to get refills. Once someone brought poisons up, there was no going back.

"It can cause paralysis by eating it," Yoko told her red headed friend. "So, I found a way to concentrate that down, mix it with a simple solution that is used to teach medical students how to give shots, and boom. Instant paralysis."

Karma's mind raced at the possibilities. If she could do that to people, what else could she do?

When Nagisa returned, it was time for their intended movie to start. Karma and Yoko tried to console the "devastated" teen who was officially dateless and managed to get into the movie they wanted to see.

Yoko loved horror, and this movie was supposed to be the best there had been in a while. It gave her hope, while the boys with her just wanted the action the movie could offer.

"Oh no, you can't eat any of this," Nagisa suddenly realized when he saw the lack of snacks in his friend's hands. "I'm so sorry, Yoko. I completely forgot!"

"Nagisa, you worry too much," she sighed as she petted his head. "I don't like eating in movies."

He gave a small sigh of relief remembering how weird she was about some things. Even she couldn't explain why she was weird about eating while watching a movie.

"So, do you like your new home?" Nagisa asked her. "I haven't seen the finished product yet."

The last he saw of the move in was when she was putting her room together and trying to figure out the best plan of action to follow through on that.

"Yeah, we repainted the walls, changed up the living room, changed the curtains, repainted the kitchen, brought in the furniture and put it where it would fit, which was mostly in their bedroom since the living room got filled pretty quickly. Some stuff fit on the patio." She listed as she looked at the dark ceiling as if trying to remember everything she had accomplished in such a short amount of time.

Nagisa had been there to help repaint the house and redo the furniture, both he was skeptical about, but agreed to because the house did need a new paint since some of it had been beat up or chipping off. The curtains were new to him and putting things in the bedrooms was news as well.

"You didn't touch my room, did you?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

"No, we left it alone, actually," she told him with a smile. "I mean, you have a cactus in there now, but that's it."

"Speaking of plants, where is your garden? Did you find somewhere to put everything?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah, actually," she smiled. "I actually managed to get more since I had a hard I could plant them in. A lot are still in my room, scattered about like normal plants, though."

"Those were poisonous?" Karma asked with wide eyes. "No wonder my hands started breaking out."

"You wouldn't have helped if I told you the truth," she whined. "I just needed help getting them on the patio, so it could have been worse."

"That's true," Nagisa smiled as he looked at the red head. "There was one time she handed me a plant, and I couldn't feel my hands for three days."

"And I warned him," Yoko said trying to defend herself. "So, that was on him."

Karma gave a heavy sigh as he smiled, "I don't regret it. I just wish I had known."

Soon, the movie began, silencing the three in anticipation of a movie they had gone out of their way to see.

Of the three, Yoko was the only one disappointed. Nagisa had loved the movie, while Karma enjoyed it, but had some criticism on the camera work. Yoko straight out hated it. Somewhere along the lines, someone had misinterpreted gore as horror. The action movie was filled with blood and graphic scenes, but no jump scares or terror to be found. Only anticipation of the hero's next movie.

"Now what?" Karma asked the two, not really knowing their tradition.

"We eat!" The two exclaimed with grins.

The three headed toward the edge of town where a small sushi restaurant was hidden away. It was the only place that had something Yoko could eat as well. While Karma and Nagisa talked about the movie, Yoko only passed in various complaints on each scene they talked about. She made a point to let them know the graphic scenes of blood and death were illogical and incorrect. Either a head wouldn't explode that way, or there was no way a would that small or large could produce such little or large amount of blood. Plus, there were many scenes where the dead could still be seen breathing, which was something that really annoyed her.

"It's because you don't understand the superhero," Nagisa told her with a smile. "If you read the comics and caught up on the story, I'm sure you would like it."

"I already tried, remember? I read seventeen comics about this guy and hated all of it. It's crap work," she grumbled as she ate her seaweed salad.

"Watching you eat makes me sad," Karma smiled. "I hate your health is limiting you. What do you have anyway?"

"Severe anxiety," she replied. "Surprisingly, it helps. When I was younger, it was self harm that showed as my panic attacks. I just have to move. I have to touch something, move it or something. It just became habit to rearrange entire rooms at a time to help cope. They said it's better than finding me in a puddle of blood."

Karma made note of that statement, wondering if he should be around her. Was he causing mental strain on her? When he looked at her arms, he could see the fading scars. Self harm...she couldn't be that old, could she?

The conversation drifted from the depressing subject, back to the disappointing movie. As their time at the restaurant came to an end, the trio left for ice cream.

Still, Karma couldn't shake the thought from his mind. How much damage had he done to her already? He definitely couldn't stay around her. Sure, he was used to hurting people, but they were people he wanted to hurt, who deserved pain. She was simply a friend, a friend he didn't know was dying because he was around.

She didn't seem bothered as she ate her ice cream. In fact, Yoko appeared to be happier than she had been since Karma had first met her. He managed to keep up with the conversation, but just barely. It was almost becoming too much to bear. He wasn't sure if he should leave or stay. When he registered that they were heading to Nagisa's place, he realized it was too late. He had to stay.

Nagisa noticed Karma's silence as they walked into the apartment. Since his mother wasn't home, it was okay for the two to come in for a couple of minutes. While Yoko stood awkwardly at the door, Karma followed Nagisa to his room.

"Why didn't you tell me she had issues?" Karma asked his friend as he dug through his closet for his friend's gift.

"Because she doesn't like to talk about it. If you were bothering her, she would have done something to you by now. She would have kept you away by some form of mental or physical torture."

"So, I'm not hurting her?" Karma asked.

The tone in his voice had caught Nagisa off guard. He had been so genuinely worried about her well being after he heard about her anxiety. It was almost like he was walking on eggshells all of a sudden, wording everything carefully or not speaking at all.

"No, but if you start avoiding her, she'll understand," he replied as he pulled a box from his closet. "It took me a while to get over it, too."

Karma followed his friend out of the room back to where Yoko was picking at her nails and glancing around the room, clearly trying to keep herself from doing anything to the orderly home.

"Okay, here you go," Nagisa said with a smile as he held out the box.

It was just a plain cardboard box, big enough for her to need both hands. She looked it over, as if trying to find a hint on the outside what may lurk on the inside. The boys raised an eyebrow at the decent size knife she pulled from her back pocket and cut open the tape with ease.

As she pulled the flaps back, she began to smile. "I can't believe you remembered."

She pulled out a small plant, nothing more than a twig really, but on the plastic pot it was labeled Oleander. Karma had no doubt it was a poison of some kind by how excited she was about it but didn't ask as she rummaged through her bag for Nagisa's present.

"Okay, Karma helped me with this," she replied as she handed him the games she had bought for him.

Nagisa looked through the games, wide eyed in awe. "How did you even get the money for these?"

"Not done," she replied as she searched through her stuff. After a brief moment of panic, she smiled as she pulled the white box from her bag. "There. Happy birthday, Nagisa."

The blue haired boy took the box and opened it to pull out the purple hand held gaming system, "Whoa, thanks!"

He hugged her tightly, the girl returning the gesture. As usual, both were pleased with their gifts. Now that Karma was in on the action, they let him know that his birthday would be celebrated in a similar fashion. However, that concept was immediately destroyed since his birthday was on Christmas.

"That's perfectly fine," Yoko smiled. "I'm sure there's something we can do to make up for it."

Nagisa smiled at his friend then looked at Karma, "We'll figure out something, even if it's not as long as ours."

The new siblings would have to admit. This was by far the best birthday yet.


	4. Chapter 4

Yoko sighed as she stretched in the mid morning sun. She was on her way to the park to hang out with Nagisa and Karma. School would be starting soon, and she wanted to spend as much time with the two before it became shameful to be seen with them. Her mother had chewed her up and down when the letter of Yoko being transferred to E Class had arrived. Karma was probably in A Class and Nagisa in B Class. She hadn't told them, but it wouldn't be long before they found out.

When she got to the park, Karma stood alone, looking at his phone. She adjusted her bag, smiling as he looked at her. He looked a bit surprised, "Where's Nagisa?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Why would I know? He's supposed to be with you."

Karma called him, "Hey, man. We're at the park, where are you?" His eyes widened a bit, "Are you serious? Just because she's in E Class?"

Yoko averted her gaze when Karma looked at her. She had messed up one afternoon and that was the nail in the coffin, sending her to E Class. Karma put his arm around her shoulders, gently tugging her along side him. "When were you going to tell me yobu were put in E Class?"

She laughed awkwardly, "You know how I like surprises."

"Yoko, if you had told me earlier, I could have started teaching you how to fight. What happened for you to get put in E Class before placement exams?"

"I crossed paths with the wrong person and didn't give him what he wanted. I accidentally hospitalized him."

"You got caught?" He was surprised. Her methods of injecting poisons into people were flawless.

"I slapped him. His father is a teacher. I will poison him next time." She looked at him, "You should go hang out with Nagisa. I'm sorry that I can't."

He gave her a cocky smirk, "Now, why would I leave someone so cute for Nagisa?"

Usually that worked. Karma's terrible flirting usually brightened her mood. Not this time. She had messed up. Since she was well aware of that, she rearranged her room to help her focus, though the new way was impractical and annoying.

"How cute," a voice came from an alley. "Karma Akabane got a girlfriend."

Karma removed his arm from Yoko's shoulders, his orange eyes focusing on the boy in the alleyway. Yoko put her hand on his arm, "He's not worth it, Karma."

"Of course, he is. You need to learn how to deal with people like him. Cmon, I'll show you."

She watch as he beat up the poor kid, quickly taking him down. Karma cracked his knuckles, "Here's where the fun starts."

Watching her sadistic friend hold the boy down as he pulled various sauces from his pocket brought a smile to her face. Listening to his screams and pleas was enough to brighten her day.

She looked away when her phone rang. What did her father want?

"I must say I'm very disappointed in you, Yoko. Ending up in E class, how could you?" He sighed, "I know someone that will tutor you so you'll be back in when school starts up. He said he would be able to help you out, but you would have to be out of town for a few days."

"Sounds sketchy to me," Yoko commented, glancing back to Karma as he dusted off his hands with a satisfied smile.

"It will bring your grades up, and your mother has already agreed."

"No-"

"If you want to continue hanging out with Karma and Nagisa, you will do as I say," he said firmly.

Most threats she shook off. To her, they were empty words. He had not threatened her. That was a promise. She didn't know what he would do, but something would happen if she didn't do as he said.

"Fine."

"Good. He'll be picking you up this evening."

She hung up, shoving her phone into her pocket as she glared at the wall.

Karma placed his face in front of hers, "That's a scary look. What happened?"

"My father found a tutor. I guess he's Principal Asano certified because I'll be able to get back on the main campus when I get back. He's picking me up tonight."

"And your dad didn't think that was weird?"

"Mom agreed with him. I've got to follow through with it if I want to see Nagisa again. It's my only option."

"Or, I could tutor you," he smiled.

She smiled, "In what? Anatomy?"

"I'm better in mathematics, but I don't see why I couldn't try my hand at anatomy. You never know when you'll need to make sure someone isn't bleeding to death."

Chuckling a bit she shook her head, "No, I better do as they say. Go see Nagisa. I'll see you soon."

She started to walk away when Karma grabbed her arm, pulling her back and kissing her on the cheek. He smirked as her face turned red, "I know how you love surprises."

"Shut up," she mumbled as he laughed.

Stupid Karma.

When she got home, she packed her things. Again, things were her fault and spiraling out of control, forcing her to rearrange her room again. At least it was practical again.

At six o'clock a man with straggly hair showed up, introducing himself as Kotaro Yanagisawa. Yoko didn't trust him as he took her bag. She didn't want to go with him, but like an obedient dog, she followed him, getting into the back of his car. Though getting a needle put in her neck caught her off guard, it didn't surprise her. Something was going to happen to her, and it would not be good.

Yoko woke up just as he body hit the floor. The room was blindingly white, a glass wall separating her from two individuals. The woman wore a ridiculous screen print shirt under her lab coat, while the man wore the same white scrubs she was wearing.

The man had dark shaggy hair and dead eyes, though he did seem curious, "You're too young to be an assassin, aren't you?"

"I'm supposed to be getting tutored so I don't end up in E Class. Where am I?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that," the woman said as she walked to my side of the room, putting her hand on the glass wall. "I'm the teacher of E Class. My name is Aguri Yukimura."

This woman was similar to the man, same black hair, but her eyes were amber and lively. She seemed nice enough. They both did. Yoko couldn't help but smile. What were they going to do when her anxiety kicked in? That was going to be exciting.

Never had she been in so much pain. They injected her roommate's blood into her system and were watching the effects. She had heard them say something about anemia being an issue for the anti-matter, but she wasn't sure. Her mind could only focus on the pain.

Despite the reassurance that the treatment would stop if she asked, she remained quiet. As the days passed, she became accustomed to the pain, just in time for another injection. Aguri told her when school started and gave her work to do so she would be able to keep up with the class when she was set free.

"It's sad how naive she is," Yoko said when Aguri left.

"You are just a kid. They might let you go," The Reaper told her as he watched Yoko move to her bed.

Smirking, she pulled out a syringe, the needle still capped and no contents to be seen. After touching a few points on her arm, she carefully placed the needle in her arm and pulled it out before poking other places as well. What started off as a stream of blood quickly turned into a waterfall as she watched the blood drop fo her arm.

"Committing suicide? You seem a bit stronger."

"The goal isn't to die. It's to not let them succeed."

Her illogical answer made the assassin smile. That was a special type of determination that he could admire. He also noticed when she was given homework, she would scatter the paper everywhere and reorganize it multiple times before even starting one subject. She spent restless, countless hours doing homework for that reason.

As she bled, the door opened and Yagnagisawa walked in, glaring at the blood on the flor, "You idiot! After everything we did for you!"

Yoko laughed, "You ruined my break. You took me away from my friends. I think taking away your success is going to be a fair trade."

She still laughed as men rushed in, one stabbing a needle into her neck, "You...can't..."

When Yoko woke up, she was tied down, a needle in her arm as blood was pumped back into her body. She simply laughed as she looked at the blood bag. That man, Yanagisawa was furious as he stepped into the room, but a nasty smirk formed on his lips as he lifted his phone. Her amusement was gone as she stared at a live video of Karma and Nagisa walking through town.

"Another attempt like that, and their lives end," Yanagisawa assured victoriously. "I suggest you start doing as we say."

When she was put back in her room, the Reaper stood at the glass wall that separated them. He almost seemed ashamed. "That's why you can't keep connections. They'll be used against you."

"It's only them. I can't guarantee I would even make the exception for my mother, but Karma and Nagisa...I'd stop time, if I could."

"You ready to continue your lessons?"

Sighing, she nodded. Despite being a science experiment, the scientist in charge of them, Aguri Yukimura was the teacher of E Class. Since the Reaper had nothing better to do, he taught her based on the homework Aguri gave her. She learned a lot from the assassin.

"You're my second student," he admitted one day as he corrected her English homework. "Technically, my other student was my assassin apprentice, but you're still my second." He showed her the paper, "Your English is getting better. Let's look at your math."

As he began looking that over, she looked at her hands. Unlike the man on the other side of the glass, she wasn't showing any side effects, but she was feeling them. It was only slight, the feeling of her entire body trembling. She could tell from the tremors in her hand something was happening to her.

"Something wrong?" The Reaper asked.

"It feels like my body is trembling. Like everything is struggling to not explode."

"Because it is," he replied. "You'll have to get control of it if you want to stay in one piece."

"How long did it take you?"

"Few weeks. It should only take you a few days, since it's not as concentrated as mine. There's more to come. It will all be painful."

"Great, something I can look forward to," she mumbled.

He showed her the math homework, "Your math is slacking."

"Because it doesn't have a point," she replied dryly. "I don't care about numbers or anything like that. No one learns math just to know it. It's learned and taught so we will know how to solve other problems. Those are letters and numbers on a page with no point. I have no interest in learning it."

He sighed, "Alright. I'll figure out how to make it more interesting."

"It makes sense, though. Watch." Yoko picked up a piece of paper and pencil. "I used to grow poisonous plants. I created poisons with them." She began scribbling words and numbers, slowly writing out her thoughts into formulas for math, "I would have to weigh the plants, figure out what to do to pull oils out or maybe just turn them to powder. After that, I would have to find a test subject. I usually picked larger people, hitting them with smaller doses to see side effects." She circled a number, "And that is how math works."

She held up the paper, intricate drawings of a human scaled and weighted, approximate amount of blood to poison ratio, a plant' the toxicity of the plant, and a long formula on how to extract oils from the plant and mixing it with saline.

The Reaper looked at the paper, slowly raking over each detail, "Would that kill someone?"

"Not someone that size. That would cause serious hives, though."

He looked at her, "You need to have purpose. Why?"

"I don't need purpose. I need control. I hate not being in control. If they didn't have something over me, I would drain myself dry every time they injected me."

"They have something on you? What is it?" He asked curiously.

She gave him a smile, "Assassins don't give out details." Her smile faded as she looked away, "They already knew about them. I'm not surprised. I guess my father was desperate to keep me out of E Class."

"Or he knew what he was doing," The Reaper said nonchalantly. "When you make the poisons, do you make the antidote?"

When she didn't answer, he looked at her. She was pale, her eyes glazed over, and she had stopped breathing. He watched as her face slowly turned blue. How was she still conscious? Just as he started to ask, she fell to the floor, breathing sporadically. She had mentioned her anxiety before, but treated it like it wasn't important. Now that she was on the floor struggling to breathe, he understood just how important that vegan diet had been.

Yoko didn't move for hours. The Reaper occasionally called out to her, receiving brief, quiet whimpers as replies. At least she was alive. Finally, when they brought them supper did she sit up. He could tell that her body had stopped shaking.

He figured she would have blown up, ending the world right then, but she kept her head, keeping her molecules from causing a dismal , all she had to do was get through the pain of the tentacles.

"Damn it! How is he the only one being affected by the serum?!" Yanagisawa screamed as he threw the blood test results angrily at the ground. "Electrocute her. Push her to the brink of death. That should be a good jumpstart."

Chuckling, she looked at the Reaper, "Looks like I'll be getting the royal treatment, too."

He smiled in return, "We'll see."

The ominous reply made Yoko narrow her eyes in suspicion. As the scientists dragged her from the room, she couldn't help but wonder what he meant. She didn't know the Reaper, but he had become increasingly interested in her. For a while, he had been hard to read, but he was slowly becoming easier to read. He was scheming. Something bad was going to happen. She couldn't wait to find out what it was.

Just as they shoved her onto the table, ready to strap her down, the building shook, a dull sounding boom coming from somewhere far off. As a flashing red light began coating the room, a blaring alarm made her ears hurt. As she sat up, she found herself alone. The cowards had left her behind.

That was fine. All she had to do was follow the explosions or panicking scientists to find the exit. She walked out of the room, barely dodging flying shrapnel from a nearby wall exploding.

Pausing at the doorway, she could see the Reaper running, trying to dodge dangerous spears that were popping out of the ground. To her surprise, she managed to see a BB coming straight at her face. With ease, she caught it, but dropped it from the intense burn that it caused.

For a brief second she caught the Reaper's eyes. The look was forced, masking his true feelings, but he was ready to abandon her, trying to encourage her to do the same.

"I'll see you soon, Reaper," Yoko said with a smile as she ran, leaving the man behind.

Just as she stepped out of the wrecked building, the fire department showed up. Rather than wait around, she ran away, heading to the city at ridiculous speeds. The world seemed completely different. Everything was clearer, perhaps even brighter. Despite the man being a few blocks down, she could clearly see his face as though she had binoculars built into her head. Sighing, she began walking toward a familiar street.

The bell jingled, making her wonder why the store was still open. "Gran Gran? Are you still here?"

"Of course, I'm here. I live here," the old crone grumped behind the counter.

Despite her attitude, she was still smiling, "I told your mother you would be coming home this week. That you would not be the same person you were when you left. Those boys have come by a few times to see if I had heard from you."

That made Yoko smile. They had missed her.

"Come, child. We need to get some decent food in you and clean you up before you go home."

When Yoko walked into the back of the shop, the house part of the building, she saw the television was on, a live broadcast of the lab where she had been for the past however long.

"No one believed me when I told them that lab was a terrible place. They were creating monsters." Lady Bale sighed as she searched through a closet, "This should fit. Go take a shower and you can tell me all about it."

Complying to her grandmother's wishes, she headed to the stained bathroom that didn't have a shower head. Filling up the tub, she slipped into the lukewarm water with a sign. When was the last time she had had a bath? Or at least a decent one.

Scrubbing the dirt, dust, and ash from her body and whatever grime that had lodged itself in her hair out, she got out and dressed in the clothing her grandmother had gotten her. Laughing a bit at the wild pattern, she knew the dress was one of her grandmother's "witch dresses" as Karma liked to call them.

Walking to the kitchen, she found more of a banquet waiting for her, all vegan foods that her grandmother cooked for her. She couldn't remember the last time she wasn't forced to eat something she shouldn't. After thanking her for the food, Karma began eating, telling her grandmother about her time spent in the test lab. She explained the Reaper's part in the story and how it was thanks to him she escaped.

"And I've got all these weird abilities. I can run fast, like should kill a man fast. I can see things that are far away almost up close like there are binoculars built into my head. It's all so weird."

The old woman sipped her tea, "Well, at least you're safe, now. Those boys should be coming by Friday afternoon. You can leave with them, then. Until then, I suggest you stay here, let that blood get out of your system."

Before Yoko could explain how that was anatomically not possible, her grandmother placed a cup of hot tea in her hands, a knowing smile on her face. That explained everything. Her special teas had many uses, including forced removal of toxins. If her body considered that stuff a toxin, it would be forced out in an incredibly painful way.

With a decisive sigh, Yoko powered through the burning sensation of the hot tea so she wouldn't have to taste it. The pain was gone almost instantly, another benefit of the treatment, she guessed.

Usually the tea would cause side effects within the first three hours of ingestion, but as Yoko waited, there was nothing. Lady Bale sat up with her, a bowl of water with a cloth ready to calm the fever that would certainly come. After five hours, they gave up.

"It may never leave your system, Yoko. I'm sorry," Lady Bale said with a frown.

"Well, it takes ninety days to create blood, or at least that's how long between blood banks. Might have to wait it out," Yoko said as she yawned. "Good night, Gran Gran."

The old woman simply nodded, her eyes on the continuing story of the lab that had held Yoko captive. As badly as Yoko wanted to stay up to hear more, her body wouldn't allow it. It was the first time she would sleep in a bed in months.

"Yoko!"

The young teen opened her eyes, rubbing them as she sat up to face her visitor. Blinking a few times, she studied the man in the doorway. Eyes widening, she registered the face, sneering at him.

"Do you have any idea what that tutor of yours did to me?" She snapped, her incredible speed launching her across the room where she stood in front of him. "Do you know what they did?!"

The moment his lips twitched, she knew. Shaking her head, she easily side stepped around him, practically teleporting to the front of the shop. To her horror, Lady Bale was laying on the floor, a puddle of blood dried beneath her.

"You're a monster, just like the other one. Here's where you die."

In an instant, Yoko got outside only to find the store surrounded, men everywhere pointing guns at her. An old man in a military uniform approached her, "You're still human, on the outside at least. Since that is the case, the doctor said you would be more beneficial to have alive and help us kill the creature that will inevitably destroy the Earth." He smirked, "I hope you're ready for school. You and your classmates will be the ones trying to kill it."

Without much say in the matter, the militia around her began to disperse. She had no idea what was going on, but her grandmother did not need to die. "I'll kill you, too, you know." She turned to face her father, "You killed Gran Gran. After I kill the monster, I'll kill you."

He laughed, "That's impossible. You don't have the heart to kill me."

His laughter stopped when he realized there was a knife on his throat. With a little pressure from Yoko, the tip pierced the skin deep enough to cause a dangerous looking cut. "I spent three months in that hell hole with an assassin as my only friend. Don't think I don't have the capability of killing you."

"If you kill me, your friends will hate you," he grinned.

"When I kill you, they'll understand," she put the knife in her pocket, another glare shooting at him before disappearing.

She came to a stop in front of a familiar house, her house. With a deep breath, she pushed the door open, easily walking in as though she hadn't been locked away for the past three months.

"I'm ho-"

"Yoko!"

A face splitting smile crossed her face as she eagerly hugged her step-brother. Though she was happy to see him, drops of rage and hate mustered in as she remembered how they had threatened him. Tears threatened to form, making her sigh them away. She didn't want Nagisa to worry.

"You've lost weight," Nagisa pointed out, frowning as he looked her over. "That camp must have been rough."

"It was, but it didn't help. I'm still in E-Class," she replied with a smile.

One of the more notable things the Reaper had taught her was how to fake genuine emotions. She didn't like lying to Nagisa, but she had to until it was all over. Maybe he would be able to protect someone from having the same issue.

"Me too," Nagisa admitted with a small, embarrassed smile. "And Karma got expelled." Sighing, he hugged her again, "When you left, everything fell apart. Maybe it will get better now that you're home."

"Maybe," she agreed solemnly. "So, where's Mom?"

"She has a job now, so she's not home much," he replied. "When I was put in E-Class, Mom let me come over a little more. She liked you, so she was a little concerned about you. Oh, you need to see this."

She followed him to her room. Taking a deep breath, she slowly released it as she opened it. It was in absolute chaos, plants in random places, her bed blocking the closet, bookshelves tipped over.

"Karma and I decided to destroy your room so you would be able to calm down as you cleaned it up. You didn't have your room set up very good to begin with, so we thought we would help."

"I'm just glad you watered my plants," she admitted. Walking to a nearby plant, she ran her finger over the leaf, frowning at the slight tingle. "Looks like I've lost my immunity. That's alright. I'll figure it out as I go."

Nagisa hugged her again and walked away, letting her clean and organize her room. All she had to do was figure out how to kill that creature so she could kill everyone else involved.


End file.
